SEAFARING: Capt Akinpelumi Advocates Shift in NIMASA’s NSDP Focus, Says it Undermines Nigeria’s Maritime Growth

By DAPO OLAWUNI

Frontline shipowner, Capt Taiwo Akinpelumi has shared his thoughts on the structural issues affecting seafaring profession in Nigeria, and how the Certificate of Competency (COC) issued to Nigerian cadets by indigenous maritime training institutions can gain acceptability internationally.

Capt Akinpelumi opines that the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) under the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as currently structured, has the advantage of giving Nigerian cadets access to global exposure and internationally recognized certifications. However, it inherently sidelines local licensing and undermines efforts to build confidence in the local maritime institutions.

“By prioritizing foreign training and certification, we risk perpetuating a system that benefits other maritime economies more than our own, while our indigenous capabilities remain underdeveloped.

“The NSDP should be treated as a temporary intervention—a bridge, not a destination. It was never meant to be a permanent solution. The long-term goal should be to develop Nigerian Maritime Training Institutions (MTIs) to the point where our Certificates of Competency (CoCs) are internationally recognized. This requires a deliberate investment in local capacity and an urgent review of our licensing frameworks.

“Indeed, by continuously funding foreign maritime training institutions and validating other countries’ licensing systems, we are inadvertently empowering competitors and undermining our own maritime development.

“This not only drains resources but reduces Nigeria’s leverage in bilateral maritime agreements and limits the strategic value of our own maritime sector.

“What is needed is a shift in focus: Nigerian shipowners must be empowered and encouraged to train and develop local seafarers, critical to their shipping trade.

“Until such a systemic shift occurs, our CoCs will struggle to gain global recognition, and our dependency on foreign certification will continue.

“Shipowners should be brought into the fold and positioned as central stakeholders in the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP), no meaningful progress will be made in developing the country’s seafaring capacity in a way that yields guaranteed sea berth, secured employment, and tangible economic benefits for the Nigerian state, if they are not involved in the NSDP arrangement.

“I have advocated in the past—and will continue to advocate—that unless Nigerian shipowners are given a critical role in the implementation of the NSDP, without this, little to no progress will be achieved in seafarer training and development that truly benefits the nation.

“The government should implement a form of interventionist support—such as maritime development funds, including the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), or other targeted incentives—for Nigerian shipowners.

“In return, these shipowners should be mandated to train or develop a specified number of seafarers locally each year. This approach would ensure that the significant funds currently spent—often in foreign currency—to train Nigerian seafarers abroad and acquire foreign certifications are retained within the country, and instead be channeled into strengthening our local maritime training institutions.

“Only then will the effort to build indigenous capacity, strengthen and improve the quality and acceptability of our COC in the maritime sector can yield the desired and lasting impact”